Many years ago, I was principal of a country school. It bothered me that too many of our children had trouble learning to read and write. It bothered me into action.

In my school we made a huge effort. Best practice. It was a blitz. With great results, right?
Well, no. We had results, but they were not great. For all our efforts, the results were — as a teacher I hate admitting this — disappointing. This got me thinking. Are some children just doomed? Or were we missing something? I looked wider. What I found changed everything.

Study after study showed that a child’s ability to learn to read and write at school is set in the first five years of life. The first three years, in fact. School was too late. And what’s needed in those early years? Simple. Yet I could see that it wasn’t happening in many families.

Spend time with children every day, from birth — talking, singing, rhyming, reading — and you’ll prepare them to read and write at school. It’s from this insight that Paint the Town REaD was born.

‘Painting the town red’ carries the notion of celebration, of ‘doing’ the town, of saturating it with excitement and enthusiasm. That’s the literacy culture we want to generate. We pull together community groups, agencies and businesses, and we inspire them to integrate this culture into everything they do with (and as) families. And to keep inventing the most fun and creative ways to do so.

It’s a growing, nationwide network of people whose influence can change thousands of lives, long term.

6th Early Literacy Conference.

Climb every mountain: songlines and singing.

Paint the Town REaD Ltd together with our co-host, Paint the Blue REaD invite people interested in early literacy, children’s singing and collective impact in Aboriginal and/or mainstream practices to attend this Conference. We will be meeting on Darug and Gunungurra traditional lands.

3–5 May 2017Carrington Hotel, Katoomba NSW

Registration for this exciting event is now open. Click here to find out more.

We invite you to become a proud sponsor and be part of our 6th National Conference. This will give your organisation great exposure as the conference aims to bring together professionals from a wide range of disciplines supporting families with children 0-5years across the country. Our expected audience will include staff working in the following sectors:-

Check out these great pics from The Pocket Public School. It looks like they had a great Mad Hatters High Tea in celebration of Book Week! How did you celebrate at your school? Let us know by getting in touch here.

A lovely post from Paint Hawkesbury REaD this week ‘Had a big cuddle with Puddles while at my sewing group at North Richmond Community Centre. What a wonderful promotion to encourage children to read. Love the concept! From Grandma Joan’

Volunteer to join a local planning group for one of the 4 communities.

Where ever you are stop and read at 11am on 27th October!

For more information and to get involved in activities in your area ask for information at your local library, visit the Paint the Swan REaD Facebook site or contact Fiona Lee at CLAN Midland on 9250-6335